Main aim: see aim. |
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Main clause: see clause. |
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Main stress: see stress. |
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Matching task
A type of task in which students are asked to pair related things together, for example, match two halves of a sentence, or a word with a picture.
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Maturity noun, mature adj
Fully grown or developed. If a learner is mature in attitude, they behave in an adult way. A learner’s maturity (physical, emotional and mental) influences a teacher’s approaches and/or decisions.
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Meaningful
- something which shows the meaning of language.
- something which has a value for students in the real world.
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Memorable
Describes something which is easy to remember.
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Memorise
To learn something so that you can remember it later.
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Mime noun + verb
Body movements used to convey meaning without using words.
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Mind map: see word map. |
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Mingle noun + verb
A mingle is an activity which involves students walking round the classroom talking to other students.
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Minimal pair
Two words which are different from each other only by one meaningful sound, and by their meaning, e.g. hear, fear.
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Mixed ability, mixed level
The different levels of language or ability of students studying in the same class.
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Modal verb: see verb. |
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Model noun + verb
A clear example of the target language for students to write down and save as a record. If a teacher is focusing on the target language of a lesson, they usually choose a model sentence, which they write on the board. The teacher often models the language as well, by saying it clearly before drilling the students.
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Monitor
To watch over students in order to make sure that they are doing what they have been asked to do, and help them if they are having problems.
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Monolingual dictionary
This uses only the target language for headwords, definitions, examples etc. See bilingual dictionary.
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Mother tongue
The very first language that you learn as a baby, which is usually the language spoken to you by your parents. Also called L1 or first language.
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Motivation noun, motivate verb
Motivation is the thoughts and feelings which make us want to do something and help us continue doing it.
Demotivate verb demotivated adj
To make someone lose motivation.
Unmotivated adj
Without motivation; having no motivation.
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Multiple-choice questions
A type of task in which students are given a question and have three or four possible answers. They choose the correct answer.
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Multi-word verb: see phrasal verb. |
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Narrate
To tell a story or talk about something that has happened. Teachers often narrate stories to young learners.
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Natural order
The order in which learners naturally learn some items in their first or other languages. Some language items are learnt before others and it can be difficult for teachers to influence this order.
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Needs
The language, language skills or learning strategies a student still has to learn, or the conditions they need to help them learn.
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Negotiating
To have a discussion with someone to reach an agreement, e.g. If you help me now, I’ll help you next week.
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Neutral
A style of speaking or writing that is neither formal nor informal, but in-between. It is appropriate for most situations.
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Nominate
To choose and name one student to speak or do a particular task.
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Note-taking noun, take notes verb
Note-taking is one of the subskills of writing. To take notes means to write down ideas in short form.
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Noun
A person, place or thing, e.g. elephant, girl, grass, school.
A collective noun is a noun which includes a group of people or things, e.g. the police, the government.
A compound noun is a combination of two or more words which are used as a single word, e.g. a flower shop, a headache.
A countable noun has a singular and plural form, e.g. book  books.
An uncountable noun does not have a plural form, e.g. information.
A proper noun is the name of a person or place, e.g. Robert, London.
A singular noun is one person, place or thing.
A plural noun is more than one person, place or thing and can be regular or irregular, e.g. boys, women.
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Object
This is a noun or phrase that describes the thing or person that is affected by the action of a verb, e.g. I saw Mary in the classroom. See subject.
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Object pronoun: see pronoun. |
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Objective test: see test. |
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One-to-one
A teaching situation which involves only one teacher and one student.
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Open class
When the teacher leads the class in an activity and each student is paying attention to what is happening. When students respond, they do so in front of everyone in the class.
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Open comprehension questions
A type of task in which students read or listen to a text and answer questions using their own words.
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Open pairs
In open pairs, one pair does a pairwork activity in front of the class. This technique is useful for showing how to do an activity and/or for focusing on accuracy. See closed pairs.
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Oral fluency: see fluency. |
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Oral test
A test of speaking ability.
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Over-application of the rule
When a student uses a grammatical rule too much, making an incorrect word or structure by following a regular pattern, e.g. a student says There were three girls (correct plural form) and two mans. (incorrect plural form)
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Over-generalisation: see over-application of the rule. |
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Overhead projector (OHP)
A piece of equipment that makes images appear on a wall or screen. It can be used in a classroom instead of a whiteboard or blackboard.
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Overhead transparency (OHT)
The plastic sheet a teacher can write on and use on an overhead projector (OHP).
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